14th March 2010 Archive

Florida State University, like most state schools in the US with a storied (American) football program, also has a respectable comp sci department that is not afraid to spend a little cash on a new technology when it comes along. And that's how the Seminoles have ended up being one of the first customers of upstart server maker 3Leaf Systems.

When you have Mark Shuttleworth as your backer, as commercial Linux distributor Canonical does, it is a bit like having money in the bank when the bank also believes fervently in your cause. It is a rare combination, and one that has allowed the Ubuntu project to reach out from its Linux desktop beginnings into commercial servers - and with the latest releases, cloudy infrastructure - without having the profit pressure that most startups have to deal with as they try to grow.